YB new stock pitches (Wed, Feb 18)

TFSL (new position): $17B (assets) Cleveland thrift in partial MHC structure w/ highest mutual ownership among public MHC banks, creating leveraged exposure to equity/earnings growth for minority shareholders. NIM inflecting after rate headwinds; 5yr ARMs from '20-'21 repricing higher while deposit costs ease. Resumed buybacks amplify per-share gains. At tangible book, market assigns zero value to 2nd-step conversion catalyst or remutualization optionality. Risk: rate sensitivity & CD-funded model

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Japan Italian restaurant chain w/ 'Scale Economies Shared' moat - $2-3 USD plates, 40%+ cheaper than peers, yet profitable & growing double-digits. Vertically integrated w/ own farms/factories for quality control. 0 marketing costs, 10M+ social media views from organic fans. Founder studied McDonald's/Walmart playbook. Inflation beneficiary - not raising prices = exploding demand. All-time high valuation but long-term hold.

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Tripadvisor (TRIP) was purchased at $9.80 following an earnings collapse, presenting an asymmetric opportunity where the market is significantly undervaluing the company's sum-of-parts. The company plans to sell TheFork, its European restaurant booking platform that generated $221M in 2024 revenue and is guided for $250M in 2026 at 11-12% EBITDA margins, with an expected sale price of $900M-$1B based on 4-5x revenue multiples (conservative compared to recent comps like DoorDash's SevenRooms acquisition at 10x revenue). The Experiences business is expected to generate $1.05B in revenue with 13-14% EBITDA margins growing 12-13% annually, valued at $2.1B using a conservative 2x revenue multiple (15x EBITDA), which would be attractive to strategic buyers like Expedia, Booking.com, or Airbnb who are building their own experiences platforms. The declining Hotel Metasearch business, expected to generate $630M revenue and $165M EBITDA, is conservatively valued at $419M assuming 15% annual revenue decline over eight years with margins compressing to 10%, though the company's valuable data could generate future LLM licensing revenue not currently factored into valuations. The sum-of-parts valuation totals $3.4B EV ($2.1B Experiences + $900M TheFork + $419M Hotels) versus the current market EV of under $1.5B, with Starboard Value owning 9.9% likely pushing for asset sales and capital returns, suggesting the market is pricing TheFork at only $500M, Hotels at $300M, and Experiences at just 0.7x revenue.

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